An everyday household item can be used to prevent opportunist tap-and-go payment thieves.
A viral video showed how easy it is for crooks to exploit contactless card technology, sparking fears the crime could become widespread.
Security experts have been warning about the dangers of wireless wallet skimming for years, however, and say there is a simple solution.
Everyday household item, aluminium foil, can be used to prevent opportunist tap-and-go payment thieves
While some have invested in expensive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)-blocking wallets and purses, using a layer of aluminium foil works just as well.
Mark Roberti, editor of RFID Journal, said using the thin metal wrap is as effective as custom-made security accessories.
Some of the RFID-blocking wallets can even be less reliable than inserting a few sheets of foil, according to CSO Online.
A disturbing video posted on social media to warn Australians how easily it is to be scammed without noticing raised fears scammers could already be at work.
Filmed at a store where an unsuspecting person is looking at magazines on a shelf, a man with an EFTPOS tap-and-go payment machine went unnoticed as he scanned the wallet in the back pocket of the man’s pants.
‘Watch me, the victim doesn’t know what I’m going to to do,’ the scanner explains in the video.
An unsuspecting customer flicks through magazines, unaware that he’s about to be scammed
The man has no idea that the EFTPOS transaction has been approved without his knowledge
The EFTPOS transaction was approved within seconds, with the customer none the wiser that he has just been ripped off.
‘I’ve just tapped his a**, who’s got a PayPass in his pocket and the transaction is approved. So be careful,’ the man warns in the video which has since gone viral.
It attracted more than 636,000 views and has been shared more than 26,000 times within 18 hours of being posted on Tuesday.
‘Guys, watch your a**. You don’t let anyone touch ya that way. Wireless tech is everywhere,’ the man who shared the video posted.
Many of the several hundred commenters on the post expressed their shock athow easy it was to be scammed.
To avoid being scammed in a similar way, Finder recommends consumers keep their bank cards in sight at all times, check their bank card statements regularly and report any suspicious activity to their card provider and the police.
‘So be careful,’ a man warns in the video (pictured), which has gone viral on social media